Wrap Up | January 2018

by Avery, posted in Monthly TBR/Wrap Up

Last year I stopped doing wrap-ups after a few months as I found that they took a lot of time to organise and they were my least read posts. But this month I’ve had a fantastic start to the new year and I really wanted to share my progress with you all! I managed to read a total of 10 books, plus one DNF. This is a huge deal for me as last year I only managed to read a total of 23 books and I’m already 7 books ahead of schedule to meet my total of 50 books in 2018. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom to check out my unexpected January surprise!

-> Everless by Sara Holland ★★★★★ – Review Here (YA Fantasy)
-> Music in Disney’s Animated Features By James Bohn ★★★★ – Review Here (Nonfiction)
-> Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View by Various ★★★★★ – Review Here (Sci-Fi)
-> #NotYourPrincess by Various ★★★ – Review on Goodreads (Anthology)
-> The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas ★★★★★ – Review Here (YA Fiction)
-> The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton ★★★★ 1/2 – Review launched on the 8th (YA Fantasy)
-> The Cruel Prince by Holly Black ★★★★★ – Review Here (YA Fantasy)
-> Morning Glories ★★★ (Comic)
-> Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu ★★★★ – RTC (YA Superhero)
-> Feel Free by Zadie Smith ★ DNF (Nonfiction essay collection)
-> The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz ★★★★★ – RTC (LGBT YA Fiction)

Book Haul

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Unlike many of you, one of my goals for this year was to treat myself to more book and book-related purchases. A hangover from many years of having no money, I’m really bad at actually buying myself things but this month I tried to practice good book buying habits and actually have some to show you! Sadly, I got distracted by library books so haven’t actually read any of these yet but it’s all about baby steps.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Other Lessons From the Crematorium, Yaqui Dalgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Legend, The Bear and the Nightingale, and The Stolen Throne were all bought with my Christmas voucher. The first two books in the ACOTAR series I got for £2 each in a charity shop, and Uglies (the first book in a series I enjoyed as a teenager) I found in the Poundshop.

The special one in this haul though is Trans Britain: Our Journey From the Shadows which is edited by Christine Burns. This book is HUGELY important as it brings together a wide variety of trans people and trans specialists to properly record crucial points in our history, something that has never been done before. After years of having many people either dismissing/erasing our history, or simply being ignorant about the extent of our history, I’m so happy to finally have a book to thrust at people rather than bear the brunt of these conversations myself! As me and my partner helped to kickstart the book, our names are printed in the back which is really exciting ❤

 

Library Books

You might have seen in one of my previous posts, but I LOVE my local library. I’m so lucky to have an amazing library which often has a diverse range of YA books as well as many new releases such as The Cruel Prince, Batman: Nightwalker, and Everless. In the lead up to Valentine’s Day, they’ve also been running a super cute ‘Book Date’ event. A selection of books are gift wrapped with a brief description written on the front. My two book dates were Morning Glories Vol 1 and Skullsworn by Brian Staveley. Neither of these are books that I would usually pick up so it’s been nice to be thrust out of my comfort zone!

E-ARCS from Netgalley

Once again, I seem to have fallen down the very deep rabbit hole which is Netgalley requests. After finally remembering to switch to the UK NetGalley, I have managed to be approved for every single ARC I have requested in January. With the exception of the Belles, I haven’t read any of them so really need to up my ARC reading game next month! Part of the problem has been that I’m finding it hard to read e-ARCS, but, fingers crossed, I might be inheriting a Kindle Paperwhite from a friend this weekend which should make my life a lot easier!

-> Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood – Pub 27th March 2018. Historical Fiction about Grace, a post-WW1 wing-walker with ambitions to get into the World Aviation Expo.

-> Planetfall by Emma Newman – Pub 22nd Feb 2018. Dystopian Science Fiction where Renata Ghaili hides a deadly truth since planetfall which risks tearing her colony apart.

-> Gaming Masculinity: Trolls, Fake Geeks & the Gendered Battle for Online Culture by Megan Condis – Pub 01 May 2018. Following the shitstorm that was GamerGate in 2016, Megan Condis explores the dominating and toxic culture of male gamers and the discrimination faced by women, LGBTQ, and gamers of colour.

-> Sky in The Deep by Adrianne Young – Pub 24 April 2018. (excuse me while i scream) One of the most anticipated YA Fantasy releases of the year, 17-year-old warrior Eelyn fights with her clan against their ancient rivals and battles with her brother’s betrayal which could put her family in serious danger.

-> The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin – Pub 01 Feb 2018. LGBT Historical fiction set in the grimy backstreets of 1831 London where bright Hester from the streets meets intelligent aristocrat, Rebekah, who must work together to discover a wickedness which is causing the poor of London to go missing.

-> Ibuki by Katheryn Somerlot – Pub 29 Jan 2018. YA LGBT Fantasy about Chiasa, an Ibuki who possesses the gift of healing through breath. She must work with a water-gifted priestess to untangle a web of lies, deceit and desire to save herself before her time runs out.

-> Trans Liberty Riot Brigade by L.M Pierce – Pub 17 July 2017. YA LGBT Dystopian with an intersex protagonist who refuses to submit to enforced surgical surgery by the government. A member of the Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, Andi is about to discover some even more disturbing secrets about life within the Wall.

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Little Surprise

Before I wrap up this very long wrap up (sorry!), I wanted to share with you all a little surprise which unexpectedly happened just under a week ago. For those who follow me on twitter you will already know what I’m talking about, but for those who don’t, please say hello to our new little addition to our family. Meet our little muffin (name yet to be announced), a 4-6 month old Campbells Dwarf Hamster who we rehomed last Thursday as our friend is moving and cannot take her with her! So far she’s proven to be a right little feisty, curious girl who shows no fear ❤ We’re currently planning to build her a new cage so I’ll post some more pictures when she’s all settled in her new home.

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Hope you’re January went well and you got to read lots of books!

What books are you planning on reading for February?

Will you be taking part in LGBT History Month (UK) or Black History Month (US) reads?

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15 thoughts on “Wrap Up | January 2018”

  1. I agree with wrap up posts taking time to organize. What I started doing that I find helps is to draft it at the beginning of the month (like put your headers, etc.) and then throughout the month continue to add to it. Like after you read a book, go back to your wrap up draft and add the information/pictures, etc. to it. I do that with my haul posts too. I set it up with the format I want to use/headers and then just add to it throughout the month. Then at the end of the month I don’t have to do a HUGE post in one sitting. I just have to touch it up some before posting.

    Ten books in one month is really awesome! I don’t think I’ve ever read that many in a month without counting audiobooks toward it. I really want to read The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. I loved Ari & Dante so much, so I think I’ll really love Saenz other books. I’ve been on the fence about wanting to read The Belles or not. It seems like a lot of people are waiting for it and if they read it loved it, so I may have to give it a chance! Awesome book haul too, by the way.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks ❤ That's actually a really good idea and something I've never thought about doing before! I might give it a test drive in February so it doesn't eat up so much of my time!

      Ahhhhhhh, I have so many feels for Ari & Dante. It's one of my favourite book and is just so precious. I loved The Inexplicable Logic a lot as well, just in a different way. I thought the character set-up in it was really interesting, as the MC is a white, straight boy who is adopted into a Mexican family (with a gay dad!) and both of his best friends are Mexican. It was kind of nice to read it from the perspective of someone who wasn't diverse but surrounded by diverse people who he loved and fought for.

      I really liked the Belles but I know a lot of people really didn't like it and there's been some controversy around it. I've had to hold my review back, as per directions of the publishers, and it's reallllllllly frustrating because I just want to share it already!

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  2. I also read ten things and DNFed an additional one, so we are TWINS! Also, I love your little addition to your family! And… you had such a good month and a super good haul! I hope you have an amazing February, love! 💖xx

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I totally get that. It happens to all of us. I’ve got nearly twenty e-ARCs from Netgalley, Edelweiss, authors and publishers and just thinking about them makes me sad😔

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Pingback: Wrap Up | February 2018

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